I am so sorry this is late. I wasn't planning on it to take me two months to get this out! I've had the worst series of writer's block. I get rid of it then it comes back twice as bad as it originally was. It wouldn't have taken so long if I had just forced it out but I didn't want to give you all something crappy

I would like to thank all of those lovely people who reviewed C.R.B.K.E., Cynthia Chen, Bakura's Baby, Bluesummers, DuesExMachina, Ezra (whom I am still overly happy about) Hana no Ceres (Your reviews made my day! *pokes Tohma drawing*), Taboo, Kitt Sseh, Renee the Rabid Squirrel, OxBeachFlirtxO1, Taito Kisses, Nieni Woodland, Chibi-chan, Ishishi, Dark Tatsu, Suguishi, Borris533, Googuru no Shoujo, Sage of Darkness, Escachick, CelesLuvsYugi, Dirge, sTaR SnIpEr, Fallen, CobaltPrincess, Ice Moon, Dragondreamer Yami Dragon, Aznsilhouette247, Chibizoo, P-chan, Sincere Angel, and Ada Lee. Thank you all so much! I wasn't expecting this to get as many reviews as it has. I am very glad it did this well.

I'm trying to answer as many questions as possible in this chapter. Of course the question that everyone wants to know (How Seto knew and why did he help Jounouchi?) shall not be answer until the epilogue.

Chapter Six: Liberation

As much as I hate to admit it now, Kaiba actually did me some good by sending me to this place. Not only have I met Bakura (who Ryou now says is perfect for me because we're both brash and irrational. I'm still trying not to be offended by the comment) but he also help give me my life back.

Before I hadn't noticed it but heroin really had destroyed my life. Or at least snatch it away from me. I thought of it as a release from the world when it really was stopping me from realizing that my life wasn't so bad. Sure I don't have the greatest life but it's a whole hell of a lot better then some people have it.

Sure I could do without the abusive father, the problems with my parents, and the fact that Shizuka lives so far away. But you know, it's not as if my father ever tried to kill me or threw me on the street like most people would think. I should've realized that I still had people that care for me. I still have a hard time believing about Yug and all them since they never did show at the hospital. Though I suppose I can understand now. It was rough on Ryou to come visit us since he hated seeing us that was; that and the fact that he couldn't do anything about it.

One thing that I really hate Kaiba for is-well I still hate Kaiba for a lot but I mean the thing about this situation-I hate the fact that now I'm indebted to him. He saw that I needed help when I refused to see it myself. Not only did he see that I needed it he got me that same help. Now I owe the stupid bastard. I wouldn't be surprised if he planned it that way either.

Each day I spend with Bakura it only makes me realize exactly how much happier I am. The happier I am the more I realize that Kaiba caused that happiness. Damn rich pig drives me insane. I don't want to owe my happiness to him. He's one of the reasons that I was so damn unhappy in the first place-which only proves to make the fact that I owe him all the much more ironic. Fucking bastard probably enjoys every last second of it too.

As half-grateful I am for getting my life back (Freshly washed and waxed so it shines! Look! It's water repellant too!) doesn't change the fact that I'm going to pop him one the first time I see him. Calling me a damn mongrel in something as important as my mental institution admittance forms! The guy really has some nerve.

One thing that still bothers me great about those forms now that I think about it. And no, not just the dog thing. How the heck did Kaiba know all those things about me? It kind of creeps me out actually. Great, now I'm going to be to paranoid to deck him for his damned dog comments. Just so I don't feel like an idiot later I'll tag this as another "Kaiba's plans to ruin my life" situation. That way I'm not obligated to feel responsible for my own paranoia and all the while it gives me another reason to hold a grudge against the rich asshole.

And I am always in need of a new reason to hold a grudge against Kaiba.

Day Twenty-Two

For the past forty minutes Jounouchi had been pacing back and forth. Really he had no reason to pace but for some reason the blonde was completely restless. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for the past four days. Actually Jou had taken to walking back and forth through the room quite a few times.

However at this point Bakura was just about to strangle the blonde. There was nothing more irritating then watching him. Actually he could think of quite a few things more irritating then Jounouchi's excessive pacing-at the moment however, Bakura really didn't care how much worse they were. The point was Jou's pacing was annoying.

"Would you stop that?" Bakura snapped. He let out a loud sigh when all the blonde did was turn his head towards him with an utterly clueless look on his face. It was as if Jou was trying to say 'stop what?' even though Bakura knew he knew what he was talking about. They had gone through this a lot recently. "Katsuya," Bakura added through clenched teeth, "Don't make me hurt you."

At this Jounouchi looked over at Bakura, looking thoroughly offended. "You would hit poor, innocent, defenseless me for doing something that I have no idea what you're talking about?" the blonde said in mock shock.

"Poor, innocent, defenseless you my ass," Bakura hissed, "You have more ways to defend yourself with than I do hurting you. Don't even try to play the 'victim' with me. It'll get you nowhere."

Jounouchi quirked an eyebrow at him, giving a small shrug of his shoulders and began to pace once again. Soon afterwards a loud shriek filled the small room followed by the slap of flesh hitting the ground. "Itai…" Jounouchi muttered rubbing his face. As soon as he was done with that he turned his head to the leg that had tripped him.

"Whoops, didn't know my leg was out there," Bakura 'apologized'. The tone of his voice told Jou that he didn't really mean it. It had been flat and almost mocking.

"Do you always have to be so violent?" Jounouchi asked with a pout. He went back to soothing his swollen nose. To him it was quite a shock that he hadn't broken it. After all he had gone face first-or really, nose first-into the floor.

"Do you really need me to answer that?" Bakura retorted, answering a question with a question. Jou rolled his eyes saying 'I guess not' in his own little way. He got up off the ground to start pacing again, only to be knocked over seconds later.

This time Jounouchi didn't fall on the floor. At the last seconds he had made sure to turn his body so his face would hit the bed rather than tile. Instead it ended up hitting neither of the two. Jounouchi soon found himself with his face right on Bakura's lap, the spirit raising an eyebrow and smirking at him. "Don't even say anything," Jounouchi muttered knowing a comment about him being eager would be coming up if he didn't.

"Stop accusing me of things, I wasn't going to say anything," was the mocking reply. Jou could hear what Bakura really wanted to say hidden within those words. Saying them directly wasn't even really necessary. Jounouchi knew the spirit better than the spirit wanted to admit.

There was a short silence in the room, one of the few times it was actually comfortable for the both of them. Normally silence between the two was smothering to the point where both thought they would suffocate if it stayed any longer. "What are you planning to do once you get out?" Bakura asked and the air in the room suddenly became thicker.

Jounouchi had been avoiding thinking about getting out. Getting out meant leaving Bakura in there alone. He had already tried faking more illnesses than he actually had but Deneen had right through him and told him it would do no good. He was better now and there was no longer any need for him to be admitted. "I haven't thought about it," he replied softly.

"You're going to sooner or later-preferably sooner than later. You only have six days left before you leave," Bakura poked him in the side. This caused Jounouchi to flinch not only at the poke but the words. He really didn't want to think about going home and Bakura was very well aware of that. He let out an exasperated sigh. "Katsuya," he said sternly, "do you at least know where you're going to be staying?"

The blonde blinked, talking a moment to think about that. In all honesty he had no idea where he was going to stay. Really, the only place he had to go was back to his father's house or maybe getting a job and living on his own. However living on his own didn't exactly seem to appealing after having a 'roommate' he had grown far too attached to. "With you," Jounouchi answered after a while.

Bakura slapped his forehead at this. Naturally, he didn't actually slap his forehead considering that his arms where still securely tucked away in the annoying white fabric bonds called a straight jacket. Smacking his forehead is just what Jounouchi imagined him doing at that moment. Of all the idiotic-not to mention impossible-things for Katsuya to say he had to say that. "You can't stay with me. If you haven't noticed the damned drods don't trust me enough to let me out of this straight jacket let alone out of the institute," he pointed out, rolling his dark eyes at the dense boy.

"I know," Jou muttered in response to the rather snappish and rude reply he had gotten to that. But really being with Bakura was the only place he could think of wanting to be. Now that he thought about it there was always Honda or Yugi. They would sure to let him stay there, but he didn't know if he could take their pity. Yugi most of all would probably be extra careful around him since he had been suicidal and Honda... he had no idea what Honda would do. All in all that made for one very uncomfortable living arrangement either way.

Of course Jounouchi wasn't given much time to contemplate this for Bakura's voice soon broke through any thoughts. "Then how are you going to stay with me? You've already tried faking illnesses and it hasn't worked!" the spirit said rather snappishly. It was hard for Jounouchi not to glare at this. It wasn't like it was his fault that he had no idea how it was going to work.

The only way that staying with Bakura would work would be to get him out. A soft sigh escaped Katsuya's lips at this, his honey-hued eyes slipping closed, and his head resting against the silver-haired male's lap for a moment. Living with Bakura was a wonderful thought, indeed. It was a farfetched idea. How exactly was he going to get the spirit out? Still it was the only option he had if he wanted to spend more than a couple hours of time with Bakura. "I'll have to get you out than. Like I promised…" Jounouchi more whispered his thoughts aloud then actually told the spirit.

This caused Bakura to arch a fine silver eyebrow at the blonde. Whereas Katsuya could recall just about everything that happened between them, he was still a little bit on the fuzzy side. Most of the time he had been spent either trying to deny the fact that he actually enjoyed the blonde's company or trying to figure out how the idiot's brain worked. "Like you promised…?" He asked with his eyebrow still raised.

Hurt by this, Jounouchi snapped his head up, glaring harshly at the silver haired male. It was sort of offending to that Bakura wouldn't remember something that he considered important. Then again Bakura was Bakura and that was giving the male a little too much credit. "Don't you remember? My fourth day in here, I promised you that I would get you out," he muttered bitterly.

The spirit paused thoughtfully. Jounouchi swore that if he had had his arms free at the time, he would've been tapping his finger against his chin as he did so. At least that's what the expression on the other's face told him. Then Bakura got an expression on his face that one would expect him to suddenly yell out 'aha!' at the top of his lungs, but the exclamation never came. "I didn't think you were serious," whether or not this should offend Jou was beyond him.

He let out a loud groan, letting himself sink further into the other's lap. "Thanks a lot. It's nice to know you have so much faith in what I say," Jounouchi replied dryly smacking Bakura leg, "I meant what I said. I intend to go through with it." It was true. Jou had ever intention of falling through with that promise. How he was going to do so was the question. Silently he prayed that Bakura wouldn't ask him.

"Wonderful-genius-and how do you expect to get me out of here?" Apparently praying didn't work very well anymore. Now the silver-haired tomb robber was looking at him rather expectantly. The words 'it better be good' were evident in the dark depths of his brown eyes. It was rather intimidating to be under that expectant stare.

Katsuya's eyebrow twitched. From the sounds of it Bakura had somehow managed to read his mind, asking the very question that he didn't want to be asked. But alas, this was Bakura. Such questions were made unavoidable because of that. The spirit seemed to make an unconscious effort to irritate everyone and everything around him. Either that or make them suffer then laugh evilly at their pain. "I don-"

"Thought so," Bakura interrupted much to Jounouchi annoyance. Why the hell couldn't he just let him speak? How did he know that the words coming out of his mouth would be "I don't know"? Of course that's what they were but that didn't mean that the blonde couldn't be irritated by the fact he was cut off. "You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep," the spirit stated matter-of-factly earning him another glare from the blonde boy with his head on his lap.

"How do you know I can't?" Katsuya snapped right back at him. The glare was returned with equal force though one would have to admit that Bakura's was a lot more effective. The air around Jounouchi was just to warm whereas Bakura's didn't hide the fact that he would be willing to kill someone without even a second thought. Not that he had actually done that before…

While the answer to that question was still on 'pending' for Jou, Bakura seemed to have the exact answer. "Because there is no way," and he was completely sure of that, "That is unless by some miracle you happen to cure my murderous tendencies to get me out of the straightjacket then convince the drods that I should be released within the next six days, I highly down that's going to happen-love." The nickname was said more sarcastically, which caused the blonde to snort in reply.

"You could at least try to be a little more supportive!" Jounouchi snapped at the other's attitude about the situation. Yet there he was with his head still buried in the tomb robber's lap, silently wishing that he could risk taking off the straightjacket as he had done once before. It was hard for him to be angry with Bakura. Actually it was growing harder and harder until the point where it was near impossible. Most of the time his anger boiled down into great annoyance, but it was never really true anger.

"I prefer to be pessimistic." The answer made Jounouchi's eyebrow twitch. He shifted his position so he could once again look Bakura face to face. He wasn't surprised when his eyes met with the contented smirk that now adorned Bakura's lips. It was tempting to roll his eyes, but in the end Jou decided against it considering the other would probably kick him and he was in very close range.

It was frustrating that the spirit chose to not help him with his dilemma. After all it wasn't even just his. Last time he checked Bakura wasn't exactly too keen on being stuck in a straightjacket while in a mental institution for the rest of his life (both would admit it would be funny, since dying wasn't something Bakura was going to be doing any time soon). "If there is, I'll find it," the blonde muttered. Even as he said those words, he wasn't quite sure if that was going to happen. How does one find a loophole to such a matter in six days? I didn't seem possible.

"Oh yes and what will you do? Sleep with my doctor so he'll let me out?" Bakura asked not hesitating to roll his eyes. Yet his tone was completely serious. This comment made Jounouchi jolt upwards, looking eye-to-eye to with the spirit. Whether or not the spirit actually meant that was beyond him. His tone was completely serious-how trustable is that, exactly? Then he figured it out.

Ah-yes-Jounouchi understood this very well. It was some sort of game that the spirit was playing. And the blonde would be damned if he didn't play along. His face was dead serious just as it had been the whole time he had been talking (one picks up a thing or do when you share a room with a psychotic ex-tomb robber).

"If I have to, I will," it was a complete lie, naturally. More than anything Jounouchi was trying to see how his silver haired lover would react to him saying such things. Obviously not very well. Almost instantly Bakura's eyes narrowed into a hard glare. The thought that that was a lie hadn't even crossed his mind (though he should've known better than to think that Jounouchi would sleep with someone else-even with perfectly good and helpful reasons for doing so).

All Bakura considered was this: he didn't like the thought of Katsuya being with someone else. Quite frankly, the thought actually angered him. "I was kidding," he said bitterly, leering at the blonde before him.

This made Jounouchi break out in a smile. Heck, he even laughed a bit. It would seem Bakura was a little possessive of him. Not that he minded; he actually enjoyed the thought of having the spirit act so overly jealous at the smallest comment. Obviously from the 'what's so funny' look he was currently receiving Bakura didn't care too much for it. "So was I," he laughed at the 'you better be' look he got in reply.

With a small smile and a sigh Jounouchi leaned forward, brushing his lips lightly against Bakura's. "Good puppy," he twitched when he heard the nickname. It didn't matter how affectionately the name was said; Jou still hated it. It made him think of Kaiba and he did not enjoy thinking of Kaiba (also one of the major reasons why he wouldn't be able to sleep with Bakura's doctor. The guy looked too much like the rich bastard, even if he acted nothing like him). With a growl Katsuya snapped at Bakura's lip. "Haven't I told you not to bite?" the silver-haired male asked, the grin on his face telling Jou that he was enjoying this.

"Then don't call me a puppy!" Jou grinned as he pushed Bakura down against the mattress, getting on top of him. He bent downwards, capturing the other's lips in a kiss that wasn't as chaste as the one that came before it, but not quite what the shorter of the two would want it to be. When they broke apart Katsuya tilted his head upwards to brush another kiss on the other's forehead.

"Katsuya… I hate this straightjacket," Bakura whispered as he had forgotten about the cloth bonds and tried to put his arms around the blonde. There was a small sigh heard though neither knew who it was from. It would've been fitting for both to sigh at that moment.

"I know. I hate them too," Jounouchi whispered, pulling back with a sad smile. What he hated most about them is that he knew exactly how to get them off, yet he couldn't do so. They to do that late at night, when there would be little chance that a nurse would walk in though it was still very likely. That's why it had only been taken of that one time. Any more than that was too great a risk.

Alas, the air in the room had grown far too thick for Jounouchi's liking. One of the things that he hated the most was uncomfortable silence. Naturally this made him keen on breaking them. "You have a very girly voice," Jou muttered with a large grin. (1) This earned him a death glare.

Next thing Katsuya knew he was on the floor, rubbing his now very sore bottom. It was then that Jounouchi made a mental note: Bakura some freakishly strong legs. "Mood killer…" Bakura snorted even though there really wasn't much of a mood to kill anyways.

Day Twenty-Eight

"Well, Katsuya, everything seems to be in order," Deneen said happily, her mahogany eyes shining quite brightly as normal. In her arms was a large folder of papers (more correctly-medical records) with the label, "Jounouchi Katsuya: patient 05163" written on a piece of masking tape. "All you need is Bakura Ryou to show up and sign your release forms and you're well on your way," she informed him as she turned to the filing cabinet and slid the folder inside.

"Why exactly is Ryou able to sign me out?" Jounouchi asked blinking slightly, "Kaiba's the one who signed me in, shouldn't he be the one that has to sign me out?" At least that's what he figured. After all not only was the brunette the one who admitted him but he was also the one paying him. Logically, Ryou being able to sign for him didn't seem to make much sense.

Apparently he was missing something important because at the moment Deneen was practically beaming. "It would seem that way, wouldn't it?" She asked reaching for the file she had just put away. Seconds later the same file landed on the woman's desk with a loud smack. She flipped vigorously through pages to the admittance forms, turning them around for Jounouchi to see. "Bakura Ryou signed your paper work along with Motou Yugi because they figured you would be staying at one of their places. We also need a blood relative to sign saying that it was in your best interest to be admitted." At the bottom were four signatures. The obvious two: Kaiba Seto and Motou Yugi, followed by: Bakura Ryou, and then lastly: Jounouchi Shizuka. He blinked at the last one. Not only had Shizuka signed, but also right above it there was another name crossed out.

Curious Jounouchi pointed to do it, looking up at Deneen. "Why is that one crossed out?" He asked, squinting and trying to read it. From the looks of it that was a female's handwriting (from what he could see it was a lot 'curlier' and neat then that of a guys).

At this Deneen blinked a few times. She turned the paperwork back around so she could look at it. "Oh! That," she grinned slightly, silently knowing that Katsuya wasn't going to enjoy her answer, "your sister, Shizuka, accidentally sighed her name 'Kaiba Shizuka' the first time. Sweet gal, but a little on the absent minded side-I'd say."

Jounouchi's eye twitched at this. Shizuka had signed her name Kaiba. He silently prayed that it was just some weird stage that most girls in Domino seem to go through rather than anything more than that. If it were anything more than that, well, Kaiba would find himself six feet under in no time. It was hard enough for Jou to accept Honda having a thing for his sister-he didn't even want to think about Kaiba. "If you would like you can go back to your room and wait for Ryou-san," Deneen informed politely.

It was obvious that she was using the other's first name as not to be confused with the Bakura that he shared a room with. Now that Jounouchi thought about the silver haired spirit, he was reminded that he had yet to find a way for him to get out. "Tenmai-san?" Jounouchi asked a little timidly. She 'hmmed' in response. "Do you think it would be possible to have Bakura come home with me?"

There was the sound of the folder hitting the desk for a second time. Deneen looked up at him with raised eyebrows and an exasperated expression. "Katsuya," she started getting that bland tone that doctors always do when they're about to tell you something you don't want to hear, "we've been over this. Dozens of times, might I add? There is no way I can get Bakura-san out of here. First of all he's not my patient, he's Yuki-san's. And second of all, Bakura isn't well enough to be out of that straightjacket let alone be released."

"You just don't know him well enough! He's fine! He's not as bad as all of you seem to think he is!" Jounouchi snapped back before he realized what he was doing.

This earned him a rather stern look from Deneen. "Katsuya, all of us here are aware of your feelings for Bakura," she stated. Her tone made Jounouchi feel like he was a five year old getting scolded by his parents for breaking their siblings toy. "Being that we do know of this it is our obligation to make sure that Bakura doesn't go home with you. Relationships between patients are deeply frowned upon-almost as much as between physician and patient-but we have chosen to ignore that the two of you are close in ways that you should not be simply because we all knew that you two would help each other. He may act differently towards you but that does not change the fact that he is dangerous to those around them. So I am afraid that neither Yuki-san nor I shall be releasing him anytime soon. Good day, Katsuya."

The blonde's mouth opened to protest what he was just told but quickly snapped shut again. There was no point in arguing about it. It wasn't as if he could do anything to change it. "Good day," Jounouchi said bitterly, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him. He hated being talked to like that. He hated it almost as much as what Deneen had told him! A long sigh escaped his lips as he opened the door to the room he and Bakura shared or rather, used to share.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Bakura teased from his spot on his bed. From the sounds of it, the spirit was actually rather bored. In truth, he was. Without Jounouchi there to pick on and annoy among other things he had nothing in the room to keep him occupied. That was unless one counted staring at walls as 'something to do'.

"I just got lectured," Jounouchi muttered, falling face first into the mattress beside Bakura. He could practically feel the 'pat pat' coming from the other. There was a soft mumbling of words coming from the mattress. The spirit blinked, poking Jounouchi's leg with his foot as if to tell him, 'baka your face is smothered by a bed-can't hear you'. Apparently Katsuya got this message for he lifted his head up. "Why is it so hard for them to release you?" he repeated before letting his face fall back against the mattress.

A long 'oh' came from Bakura as he looked down at the blonde in distress. "I'll take it this means you haven't found a way to get me out of here yet?" he said a little more smugly then he should've given Jou's current state of mental disarray. This comment got him smacked in the arm-not very lightly either. "I told you it was pointless," this time the hit was a lot harder then the last one. Which was surprising because the last one had been pretty hard.

"No, I haven't found a way to get you out yet," Jounouchi said, rolling over onto his back, "Just because I haven't doesn't mean I will. I may be out of the institute but that doesn't mean I can't find a way to get you out of here." This earned him a, 'care to explain?' look from Bakura. The blonde rolled his eyes at the other, sitting up right. "If I could explain it, I would. Trust me. But seeing how explaining it would most likely require a way of getting you out of here, it would appear that I am unable to do so at the moment-" a pause, "-don't you even say anything."

"Wasn't planning on it," Bakura replied with a small shrug. Actually he had been planning on saying something but seeing how it would only irritate the blonde, he decided not to. Not that he didn't enjoy making Jounouchi twitch in annoyance, he just felt that it would be nice if he toned it down a bit since it was the other's last day and all. "So when is Ryou going to be picking you up?" the spirit asked feeling the need for a change of subject.

"Any minute now," Jounouchi answered, looking over at the other with a raised eyebrow, "Why? What are you thinking?" For a second time Bakura shrugged in response. Seconds later he leaned in, kissing the other lightly with a small smirk. The kiss was short lived however for not but a moment later there was the sound of someone clearing their throat.

The two turned their head to look at the person who had interrupted him. Whereas Jounouchi grinned with his cheeks tinting the lightest shade of red, Bakura sneered at the one at the door. He didn't enjoy being interrupted, no matter what the reason for such the interruptions were. "I'm sorry," Ryou muttered with a small nervous smile on his lips, "Pardon my intrusion, I didn't know that you were… um…"

"It was just a kiss Ryou. Grow up," Bakura snapped at the small boy's embarrassment. This earned him a glare. Granted it wasn't a very effective glare since it was coming from Ryou, but it was a glare nonetheless. In a way it reminded Bakura of how Jounouchi tired to glare when he was extremely tired. Which ended up in the spirit scrunching his nose awkwardly.

"Still!" Ryou yelped back at the spirit. Originally there had been more to go with that argument but eventually he had come to find the term "stubborn as a mule" seemed to be a fitting phrase for dealing with Bakura. So he just let out a small-annoyed huff before turning to Jounouchi. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure am," Jounouchi replied, "Just give a moment and I'll be there." As he went to say his goodbyes to Bakura something hit him. He had noticed it before, but now it had a great significance. Ryou and Bakura looked almost exactly a like. In fact, unless you knew which one was which, it would be impossible to tell them apart.

At that moment Katsuya was grinning like an idiot. It was so obvious! How had he not seen it before? If Bakura and Ryou were to switch clothing, he could get Bakura out. And it wasn't as if they could Ryou once everything was done and over with. He was mentally stable. Well, at least more stable than the other two.

That grin-which by the other two present couldn't be described as anything aside from creepy-earned him two very suspicious looks. "What exactly is going on in that crazy blonde head of yours?" Bakura asked, a little bit worried as to what the other might be thinking.

Jounouchi looked back and forth between the two before his eyes settled on Ryou. "Ryou, switch places with Bakura, pleased," Jounouchi pleaded using what one could only call 'puppy dog eyes'. This earned a string incoherent screaming from the spirit behind him and a rather disbelieving look from the other. There was no way that he had just said that.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Ryou shook his head vigorously as he started the seemingly never-ending mantra of 'no's. There was no way he was going to be switching places with Bakura. It just wasn't going to happen.

"Ryou!" Katsuya shot back feeling highly frustrated with the fair-haired boy. What was the big deal about switching places? It wasn't like he was asking him to cut off his arm and give it to Bakura. "Come on, it's just for a few hours, maybe a day tops. They'll figure it out sooner or later that you're not their patient. You and Bakura act nothing alike!"

No matter how much Jounouchi tried to convince him otherwise, Ryou was not willing to switch places. If something were to go wrong he could very well be stuck in the institute with them thinking he was Bakura. "You're forgetting one thing, Jounouchi. This is a psychiatric help clinic!" the small boy replied, "It doesn't matter how different Bakura and I act! With my luck they'll think he completely snapped when you left and developed another personality!"

For a moment all Bakura and Jounouchi did was look at him, blinking slightly. It was so very unlike Ryou to have such random outbursts. Though once they got past the initial shock of it, they both busted out in laughter. The silver-haired boy let out an exasperated sigh at the other two's childish behavior. He was completely serious about what he had said. Not that there was any point in trying to explain it. Jounouchi was just as bad as Bakura when it came to arguing. Though Ryou would have to admit that the blonde was easier because he was a little slower. "Come on Jounouchi, get your things we're leaving," he stated with a small frown. He had a feeling the ride back home wasn't going to be enjoyable even the slightest bit.

The statement from Ryou made all laughter stop instantaneously. Bakura muttered a small goodbye, plopping down onto his bed. Long goodbye always seemed to only provide to over dramatize the situation. However Jounouchi still had something else in mind. Now that he had found a way to get Bakura out, he wasn't going to leave without him. "Sorry Ryou," he said with a sad sort of smile, "I'm not going anywhere."

Next thing any of them knew Ryou was sprawled across the floor, unconscious. "Wow, did I actually hit the right spot?" Jounouchi asked looking at his own hands in dumb wonderment. He had seen the sort of thing done on TV and in movies quite a bit-not to mention since he had become friends with Yugi-but he had never tried to do it himself.

"Did you really just knock him out?" Bakura asked poking the passed out Ryou with his foot. "Apparently so," he answered his own question. It would seem that Ryou wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. He looked over at the blonde, who was still looking at his hands fascinated, and glared fiercely. "First thing I'm doing when I get out of this damn thing is beating your ass."

"Wouldn't expect you to do otherwise," the blonde replied trying to sound nonchalant (and failing to do so) as he walked over the front of Ryou's body. His eye twitched slightly, caring him over into the bathroom was not going to be fun. It was something he had to do. At least that way if someone walked in they wouldn't find him striping Ryou. That would most likely just get him in the same position that he just got out of. Not that he would mind seeing how he didn't want to leave Bakura in the first place. But if things went as planned, that wouldn't be a problem anyways.

With a groan, Jounouchi bent down, picking up the slender boy and throwing him over his shoulder. This caused Bakura to raise an eyebrow at him. Either Katsuya was a lot stronger than he let on or Ryou was just freakishly light. He silently decided it had to be the latter of the two. With a small smirk at that thought, Bakura followed the blonde and comatose boy into the bathroom. That wasn't before he shot a glance over his shoulder in order to make sure that no one was coming.

Jounouchi wasted no time in setting Ryou down. Before he started to undress the boy-very embarrassedly at that-he turned back to Bakura. There was still the matter of getting the other's straightjacket off before he could do anything.

Without really thinking he reached behind the spirit in order to do this. As his fingers fumbled with the straps on the back he could feel his breathing starting to quicken. In order to be able to reach he had to be fairly close to the other. Actually the were touching nose-to-nose at the moment with their eyes locked in an intense gaze.

It was a relief for Jounouchi when he finished unfastening all of the straps. The closeness between them made him want to do rather inappropriate things to the other. He was very well aware that it probably wouldn't be the best of times to start a make out session. Even if the notion did sound very appealing.

Almost as soon as the straightjacket hit the floor, Bakura had Jounouchi pinned up against the wall. He took a moment to look into the other's honey-hued eyes before closing the space between them in a passionate kiss. For a moment the knocked out Ryou lying on the bathroom floor was completely forgotten about as they lost themselves in the kiss.

However it didn't take long for the blonde to snap out of it. The instant Bakura's lips relocated themselves from his lips to the hallow of his throat (even though he tried not to, he ended up bending his head back with a small moan to give Bakura better access) he was very well aware of the fact that could wake up at any given moment.

"I thought you said you were going to beat my ass first," Katsuya murmured breathlessly, making a feeble attempt to push Bakura away from him. It felt far too good for him to push the other away whole heartedly without immediately regretting it afterwards. A small gasp came from Jounouchi's throat as Bakura's tongue brushed across one of the more sensitive spots on the part of his jaw closer to his ear.

The pathetic attempt Jounouchi made at pushing Bakura away made a smirk form on the spirit's lips. "I am. I just never said how I was going to beat your ass," he whispered huskily into the other's ear before nipping slightly on the lobe. The smirk only grew wider as Katsuya proceeded to whimper because of it.

"Well, in that case. You're still going to have to wait. We need to get out of here before Ryou wakes up," Jounouchi somehow managed as he pushed Bakura away. Naturally the other glared at him, but instead of doing anything more looked down at Ryou, who was still out on the floor.

"I still can't believe you hit him," Bakura muttered with a sadistic grin, shaking his head. Actually the fact that Jou had hit him amused him greatly. He didn't know that the blonde had it in him to hit any of his friends aside from Honda and even then it was only playfully (more often than not).

At this Jounouchi scrunched his nose and snorted indigently. "Like I had a choice!" he snapped back with his arms crossed over his chest and his head turned to the side (nose stuck straight up in the air and all).

"Actually you did…" Bakura pointed out much to the blonde's dismay. It was true. He could've just left him there in the institute rather than knocking Ryou out and having him dragged into the bathroom. Of course Jounouchi preferred not to admit that as it insulted his intelligence quite a bit. Still in his mind he had only been keeping a promise even though that promise had never stated when he would get Bakura, just that he would eventually. And oh how Bakura loved to point that out. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Uh… yeah," Jounouchi replied looking down at Ryou. He really did feel bad about having to hit the silver-haired boy. However it did him no good trying to think about that now. With fairly red cheeks, the blonde knelt down besides Ryou, removing the other of his clothing as fast as he could. Each piece would then be tossed over his head at Bakura, who in turn would flick him because somehow all three garments (sweater, undershirt, and slacks) had managed to hit him in the face.

Once getting Ryou's clothing off it was onto the task of getting Bakura's old clothing on. As Jounouchi did this, he mentally cursed the fact that straightjackets seemed to have more belts, buckles, and straps than anything should ever be allowed. "Remind me to talk to Ryou about dressing like a fairy next time I see him," Bakura said with a loud groan, looking at the other's clothing in disgust.

"Escape now, complain later," Jounouchi snapped, snatching Bakura's hand. He promptly dragged the other out of the bathroom as quickly as he could, not bothering to move Ryou from his spot on the bathroom floor. It would take too much time to relocate the boy anyways. Just as quickly as he had scurried out of the bathroom he picked up his single bag of possessions that had been placed on his bed and preceded to drag Bakura out of the institute.

Neither of them said anything until they got out of the building and back down to Ryou's car. Amazingly enough they had managed to get out of there with only a few of the nurses stopping them to say goodbye to Jounouchi. Even more amazing was how none of them seemed to notice who he was standing with.

Bakura opened the door to the car after Katsuya unlocked it (with the keys that had been in Ryou's pants pocket, of course), quite annoyed with the fact that the blonde was refusing to let him drive. Naturally because of this he had to make some snide remark. Not that he would've done anything aside from that; this just gave him an excuse. "How the hell this idiotic plan of yours actually worked is beyond me," he stated indigently as he plopped himself down onto the seat.

"It was brilliant and you know it," Jounouchi replied with a large grin on his face. The grin grew large still present as he started the car. Part of him silently agreed with Bakura on the matter. It had been quite surprising that his plan had gone so smoothly, especially for something spur of the moment such as that had been.

"Just keep telling yourself that, Katsuya."

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(1) Yami no Bakura's Japanese voice is female for those who don't know. I had the Malik vs. Bakura episodes on in the background while I was writing!

Editing didn't happen. I'll eventually get to it, but don't count on it for the epilogue. I'm a lazy ass and also have problems reading most of my longer works. But moving onto other things. Yes, that is the ending of White Padded Room. The grand total of length of this chapter was 13 pages like the first but 7,514 words. That's 1,382 words then the first and otherwise longest chapter. I do hope that everyone enjoyed this fiction! I enjoyed writing it! The epilogue should be posted soon enough. Sorry again for the wait!